This cauliflower pizza crust recipe will satisfy your pizza cravings without cheating on your healthy lifestyle. Plus, tips for how to make the crust vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and without a food processor!
Pizza. It's glorious.
I mean, with all the savory goodness, bubbly cheese, and delicious, chewy, and crispy crust? I'm a huge fan of pizza. Pizza and I are buds.
Or, at least...we used to be buds.
My new healthy lifestyle doesn't really allow for much pizza anymore, except on cheat days (which often involve pizza fo sho).
I had to take matters into my own hands. I needed a way to sneak pizza into my new clean lifestyle.
But, how?
In This Post You'll Find:
- Watch How To Make It
- How To Cook Cauliflower Rice For Pizza Dough
- How To Cook
- How to Make Crispier Crust
- How To Make Without Cheese (Vegan)
- Do I Need a Food Processor?
- Can I Use Store-Bought Cauliflower Rice?
- How Long Can Cauliflower Pizza Last?
- How To Freeze And Store
- Is Cauliflower Pizza Crust Healthy?
- Healthy Cauliflower Recipes
- How To Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Reviews
Oh, I'll tell ya how: cauliflower.
Yup, cauliflower. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's seriously nothing cauliflower can't do.
You can turn it into cauliflower rice, cauliflower cheese sauce, cauliflower mashed potatoes, cauliflower hash browns, and...CAULIFLOWER PIZZA DOUGH.
I've wanted to learn how to make cauliflower pizza crust for like EVER. It always seemed super fussy, so I kinda avoided it. I've made my own pizza crust recipe before, but never with cauliflower.
Finally, though, I tried it for myself and it was ... almost... glorious. The truth is, the first time I tried making it on my own, I made a couple rookie mistakes, being the cauliflower pizza dough newbie that I was.
Psh...newb.
But, then, I figured it out and want to share all my tips with you today. You're gonna love this gluten free pizza crust, my friends!
Watch How To Make It
How To Cook Cauliflower Rice For Pizza Dough
Once you've riced your cauliflower, you'll need to cook it to soften it before turning it into cauliflower crust. To do this, follow these simple steps:
- Lay out the "rice" evenly on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. TIP: Don't use aluminum foil because it will cause the cauliflower rice to stick and will be very difficult remove.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees, tossing every so often.
- Once the rice is tender and beginning to turn golden brown, remove the rice from the oven and transfer into a clean, thin dishtowel or cheesecloth and allow to cool.
The next step is to remove the excess moisture from the cauliflower before adding any additional ingredients.
How to Rice Cauliflower
The most tricky part about cauliflower crust is pricing the cauliflower. Fortunately, there are several ways to do it.
To rice cauliflower with a food processor…
- cut the cauliflower into small florets
- add the cauliflower florets to the food processor
- pulse the cauliflower florets until small pieces are formed
How To Remove Excess Liquid From Cauliflower Rice
Believe it or not, this step makes a BIG difference in the final texture of your crust and is totally worth the small extra effort. You'll need to squeeze out the liquid from the cooked cauliflower before forming the crust. You absolutely don't wanna skip this step. You know me - I skip steps when they're unnecessary. BUT that's not the case here - with the cauliflower, you wanna make sure you remove as much liquid from the cooked cauliflower as possible so the resulting crust isn't soggy.
Trust me on this one.
I use cheesecloth for this step, but you can also use a clean kitchen towel or paper towels - though this cheesecloth, I've found, is the best suited and makes the least amount of mess. It's also okay to squeeze the cauliflower as hard as you can - you won't hurt it 🙂
How To Cook
Once you have the cauliflower rice cooked and squeezed of as much excess liquid as possible, it's time to mix it with the remaining ingredients, and then form it into a crust shape. To do this, follow these easy steps:
- On a clean, new sheet of parchment paper, pour the rice mixture out and form into a small rectangle. IMPORTANT: Do not use aluminum foil for this step, as the crust will stick. Trust me on this one - foil is bad news.
- Keep the dough about ⅓ of an inch thick and try to mold it to be as even and as flat as possible. You can also form the edges to stand up to mimic a crust.
- Once the crust is fully formed, place back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is firm and golden brown.
At this point, you can top with whatever normal pizza toppings you prefer. I've added one of my favorite ways to top cauliflower pizza crust, but any of your fave pizza toppings will be amazing! This would be a great crust for my chicken alfredo pizza, too.
How to Make Crispier Crust
Next, you want to make it crispier. While squeezing out as much liquid as possible will super help with this, there's another important step to do to make crispier cauliflower pizza crust: pre-bake it. Make sure to cook the crust in the oven BEFORE adding any toppings. This will help it get nice and crispy around the edges once it bakes again with all the toppings on it.
Now that you have what to do and what not to do, you should be good to nail this cauliflower pizza crust on your first try - it's totally possible and so worth it. In fact, this crust is just as good - if not even BETTER - than many flour-based crusts I've had in my day.
How To Make Without Cheese (Vegan)
I use cheese and egg in this cauliflower pizza crust to add texture and help hold it together. However, you can easily replace both with just a few quick replacements.
- Instead of an egg, make a flax egg by combining 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water. Just mix together, and then let sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
- To replace the cheese, you can use garbanzo bean flour.
- Instead of the parmesan and goat cheese, add ¼ cup chickpea flour to create the vegan cauliflower pizza dough. If you’d like to add a little “cheese” flavor, you can add in a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast, too.
Did I miss an ingredient you'd like to replace? Let me know in the comments below!
Do I Need a Food Processor?
You'll need to turn the cauliflower into cauliflower rice using either a food processor or a kitchen grater. See my article on how to make cauliflower rice if you need more help on this. Essentially, both a food processor and kitchen grater will turn your cauliflower into small, rice-sized pieces, but the method varies a little. With the food processor, it's quick and easy, but the clean-up takes a bit longer. With the kitchen grater, there's less to clean, but the method takes a little longer. It's really up to your preference and what you have in your kitchen.
How To Make Without A Food Processor
If you don’t own a food processor, use a kitchen grater and it'll work just as well. Here’s what you have to do:
- cut cauliflower into larger florets
- push the box grater across cauliflower florets until you make small pieces. Watch out for your knuckles!
Can I Use Store-Bought Cauliflower Rice?
Yes, totally - you can use store-bought cauliflower rice to make cauliflower pizza crust. I prefer to make my own cauliflower rice since it’s very easy to do it but you can use store-bought cauliflower rice if you prefer. If you use pre-riced cauliflower, there’s no need to cook the cauliflower, but you'll still need to use the cheesecloth method to squeeze excess water since there will be some and that's really the secret to crispy cauliflower pizza crust.
How Long Can Cauliflower Pizza Last?
You can make this easy cauliflower pizza crust ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freeze it. The cauliflower pizza crust will last for…
- Up to a week in the fridge
- Up to 3 months in the freezer
How To Freeze And Store
Yep, you can make this easy cauliflower pizza crust ahead of time and freeze it. After cooking the pizza, allow it to cool, and then place into an airtight container or freezer safe ziplock bag. You can add the toppings on the cauliflower pizza crust and freeze them together or just store the crust.
When you crave pizza, all you have to do is remove your pizza crust from the freezer, add your favorite toppings (or not if you opted for freezing them together), and reheat it in the oven for 10 minutes at 425° F. Easy peasy.
Is Cauliflower Pizza Crust Healthy?
Yes, cauliflower pizza crust can be a healthy pizza crust option. However, I should mention not all cauliflower pizza crusts are healthy. Be sure to pay attention to the ingredients, especially if it's store-bought. We want minimal ingredients and ones you can pronounce. More on how to read nutrition labels to be safe here.
Why Is Cauliflower Pizza Crust is Healthy?
- Has fewer carbs than regular pizza crust (a regular pizza crust has approximately 38 g carbs versus just 10.9 g)
- Easily made into a gluten-free, which means people with gluten intolerance or Celiac disease can enjoy it, too
- Can easily be adjusted to meet your dietary needs
- Can be made dairy-free or vegan if you want (keep reading if you want to learn how)
- Cauliflower is an excellent source of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants
- cauliflower is high in fiber, which reduces inflammation and keeps the digestive system healthy
- Cauliflower pizza crust is a great low-carb alternative for grains, versatile, and easy to incorporate into your diet
See? Cauliflower really is the most versatile veggie in the world of veggies. It's full of fiber and other natural goodness. Plus: yum! For more reasons why, check out my post on all sorts of amazing cauliflower recipes!
Cauliflower, where will you take me next?
Healthy Cauliflower Recipes
Since one cauliflower recipe is never enough, I have to share more with you. They're all just as healthy as the cauliflower pizza crust. These cauliflower recipes are proof that cauliflower is so versatile and amazing.
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- How To Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Cauliflower Tortillas (Just 42 Calories!)
- Slow Cooker Chicken Cauliflower Curry
- Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
- Spicy Cauliflower Burgers
How To Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For The Cauliflower Crust:
- 1 large head cauliflower (to make 3 cups cauliflower rice)
- 1 egg*
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon parmesan, shredded*
- 3 oz goat cheese*
For The Pizza Toppings:
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- handful baby spinach
- 3-4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Turn the cauliflower into rice using either a kitchen grater and grating the cauliflower just like you would cheese or using a food processor. (While the food processor makes quick work of the cauliflower and creates a more even size, the kitchen grater is much easier to clean and adds a little more texture. Either way will do so it’s up to your preference.)
- Grate enough of the cauliflower to produce 3 packed cups of cauliflower rice.
- Lay out the "rice" evenly on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. TIP: Using aluminum foil will cause the cauliflower rice to stick and will be very difficult to remove.
- We need to first roast the cauliflower to soften it before creating our crust so place this into the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing every so often.
- Once the rice is tender and beginning to turn golden brown, remove the rice from the oven and transfer into a clean, thin dishtowel or cheesecloth.
- Wrap up the rice and twist the towel to squeeze any excess moisture out. Be careful not to burn your hands. (Believe it or not, this step makes a big difference in the final texture of your crust and is totally worth the small extra effort.)
- Place the drained rice into a mixing bowl, along with the egg, dried oregano, ¼ tsp,. kosher salt, garlic powder, grated parmesan cheese, and crumbled goat cheese. Mix this together until fully combined.
- On a clean, new sheet of parchment paper, pour the rice mixture out and form into a small rectangle. Do not use aluminum foil for this step, as the crust will stick.
- Keep the dough about ⅓ of an inch thick and try to mold it to be as even and as flat as possible. You can also form the edges to stand up to mimic a crust.
- Once the crust is fully formed, place back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is firm and golden brown.
- At this point, you can top with whatever normal pizza toppings you prefer.
- For the pizza pictured, I drizzled olive oil over the cooked crust, followed by diced chicken breast, followed by a handful of baby spinach and about 2-3 ounces of sliced mozzarella cheese.
- Once you have your toppings, place back into the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the spinach is wilted, about 6-8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing into quarters using a pizza cutter.
RedOne
Would this work with out the salt or would it be very bland?
Lacey Baier
The salt is very helpful to give it more flavor, and it would depend on what toppings you're adding to it.